"Our running game is not going to be a mystery to them," Cardinal coach David Shaw said. "We run the power play. They run the power play. It's going to be strength against strength, and it's going to be fun to watch."

Stanford ranks third in the nation at stopping the run, Wisconsin 21st.

Schwartzstein will have an especially important role. As the man who calls the blocking schemes at the line of scrimmage, he'll try to decipher the Badgers' unusual "walk-around" strategy on passing downs. They put only two players in down stances, while the others walk around to disguise whether they'll rush the passer or drop back in coverage.

"It looks pretty funky," Schwartzstein said.

Yankey, a consensus All-American and the Morris Trophy winner as the Pac-12's top offensive lineman, allowed just one sack this season.

While Taylor is Stanford's all-time leading career rusher with 4,212 yards, Ball is Wisconsin's with 5,040 yards. He is also the NCAA's all-time career touchdown leader with 82 and won this season's Doak Walker Award as the nation's top running back.

Frederick, a 6-foot-4, 338-pound center with a bushy beard, and Costigan, the right guard, were the bulwarks of a line that propelled Ball and backup tailbacks James White and Melvin Gordon to a team total of 237.8 yards rushing per game, 12th best in the country.

Even more than Stanford has done the last four years, Wisconsin brings in extra linemen - a combination of tackles Robert Burge and Tyler Marz and guard Zac Matthias - for a line that is already huge. Right tackle Rob Havenstein is 6-8, 342 pounds.

Although Stanford is favored by six points, Wisconsin looked far more dominating in its conference title game. It rushed for 539 yards in a 70-31 blasting of then-No. 14 Nebraska. Watching it on tape "made my dizzy," Shaw said.

Meanwhile, Stanford gave up 170 rushing yards to UCLA before winning 27-24 on a fourth-quarter field goal.

The game is a rematch of the 2000 Rose Bowl, which Wisconsin won 17-9 behind Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne.

Stanford's last win in "The Granddaddy of Them All" was a 13-12 upset of Michigan in 1972 behind quarterback Don Bunce, running back Jackie Brown and the Thunderchickens defense. The previous year, Heisman winner Jim Plunkett guided Stanford to a 27-17 Rose Bowl win over Ohio State.

For Wisconsin, on the other hand, coming to the Rose Bowl is old hat. It's the third straight trip to Pasadena for the Badgers and fifth in the BCS era. They'd like to reverse their fortunes after losing to TCU two years ago and Oregon last year.

They'd also like to prove their 8-5 record was misleading. They had three-point losses to Oregon State and Nebraska and lost in overtime to Michigan State, Ohio State and Penn State. Their five losses came by a total of 19 points.

They took a further blow after the conference championship game when head coach Bret Bielema left to take the Arkansas job not long after assuring the Wisconsin players he was staying.

Fortunately for the Badgers, they had just the man on campus to take over on an interim basis. Athletic director Barry Alvarez was UW's head coach from 1990 to 2006 and was 3-0 in the Rose Bowl. The players asked him to coach them, and he agreed.

Phillips is their third starting quarterback of the season. Danny O'Brien started the first three games before giving way to Joel Stave for the next six. When Stave broke his collarbone against Michigan State, he was replaced by Phillips, whose career has been hampered by three major knee operations.

Stanford has its own redemption motive as a result of a heartbreaking loss to Oklahoma State in last season's Fiesta Bowl.

"We don't want to end the season on a loss because the last game kind of sets the tempo for the offseason," linebacker Chase Thomas said. "That loss last year stung deep for a lot of guys."

Stanford on Tuesday

What: 99th Rose Bowl

Who: No. 8 Stanford (11-2) vs. Wisconsin (8-5)

When and where: 2 p.m., Pasadena

TV/Radio: ESPN/1050, 95.7

Story line: Trying for their first Rose Bowl win in 41 years, the Cardinal will rely on Stepfan Taylor's running and hope to keep redshirt freshman Kevin Hogan unbeaten in his fifth start. Wisconsin hopes to finish with a bang after five close losses and after losing its head coach, Bret Bielema, to Arkansas. Former Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez, the school's athletic director, fills in for Bielema; he's 3-0 in Rose Bowls.

What to look for

-- Kevin Hogan's elusiveness when plays break down and his running on designed plays have opened up Stanford's offense considerably. He'll need to make some first downs with his legs.

-- The Badgers try to confuse offensive lines by putting only two defensive linemen in down stances. The other four or five players stand up and move around, without revealing which ones are rushing until the snap. Stanford's O-linemen will have to react quickly and efficiently.

-- Wisconsin's Barge package - named for backup tackle Robert "Barge" Burge - uses two or three extra O-linemen and nine men across the line of scrimmage with tailback James White taking the snap. Generally he runs, but in the Big Ten title game he threw for a touchdown in addition to scoring four on the ground. It's another challenge for Stanford's defense, ranked third in the nation against the run.